Located in the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, the Svenningsen Lab uses cutting edge imaging techniques to help shed light on the causes, effects, and treatments of lung disease.
RESEARCH AREAS
The research focus of the Svenningsen lab is to use translation imaging to detect and better understand the mechanisms of pulmonary diseases, predict and evaluate pulmonary disease outcomes, and improve the selection, delivery and efficacy of therapies targeting pulmonary diseases. Our research spans a range of pulmonary diseases, some examples of which are shown below.
ASTHMA
We are privileged to work at world renowned asthma clinic at the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health. Our lab has participated in clinical trials of novel asthma treatments, measured novel phenotypes of asthma, and helped drive research that deepens our understanding of the disease.
COPD
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung disease most commonly caused by tobacco smoke. In our lab, we research the causes, effects, and possible treatments of COPD using state of the art imaging modalities.
COVID-19
When the pandemic struck, like so many other researchers around the world, we pivoted our focus to learning more about the disease. Our research continues to provide insight on both the short and long term effects of COVID-19
Lung Cancer
Treatment for lung cancer often includes lung resection surgery. After surgery, patients are sometimes left with impaired lung function and suffer respiratory complications. Our research uses imaging to predict those complications and will hopefully leader to better patient outcomes.
Svenningsen Lab Services
We offer an array of services to evaluate lung health, disease progression, and response to treatment.
Pulmonary Imaging
We acquire a wide range of quantitative pulmonary images that provide regional measurements of lung function and structure. These tests include, 129Xe MRI, free-breathing MRI, quantitative CT, and SPECT.
Pulmonary Function Tests
Our lab employs the full breadth of standard-of-care pulmonary function tests (PFTs) to evaluate lung function.
Longitudinal Monitoring
We perform reliable and repeatable tests over many weeks or months to provide accurate measures of disease progression or treatment.
IMAGING MODALITIES
Our lab is at the forefront of pulmonary imaging. We employ a wide range of tools to provide precise, quantitative measures of disease and treatment response. Scroll over the images below to learn a bit more about what we do.
Xenon is a safe, radiation free, contrast agent for the MRI that let's us image the functional consequences of respiratory diseases. The cyan in the image shows us which parts of the lung is reached by the inhaled gas. The dark regions of the lung show us where disease inhibits healthy ventilation.
129Xe MRI
Conventional MRI measures the signal of protons (1H) in your body. Using advanced acquisition and analysis methods, we can use 1H MRI to measure pulmonary structure and function or even to create a video of a patient's breathing cycle!
1H MRI
CT provides high resolution, detailed images of the lung's structure. CT has many clinical and research applications. The example here shows a 3D segmentation of the lung's airway tree. Using this model, we can measure the amount or geometry of the airway branches.
Computed Tomography (CT)
SPECT is a clinically used tool for imaging lung function. It can be used similarly to 129Xe MRI to measure the distribution of a contrast agent in the lungs. While it has the drawback of exposing the subject to radiation, it is much more widely used than 129Xe MRI,
SPECT
PUBLICATIONS
Here are some examples of our latest publications. Click on the images for more information and a link to the papers. We're always happy to discuss the results of our research so please reach out if you have any questions or comments!
LAB MEMBERS
Graduates
Gone but not forgotten. We thank these past team members for helping us get to where we are today.
Nisarg Radadia
Nisarg's Master's research focused on imaging lung cancer patients before resection, aiming to improve surgical outcomes and post-operative care. He has continued his research career in the Shargall and Mukherjee labs.
Mattise Ng
Matisse's undergradauate research used 129Xe MRI and oscillometry to characterize the effects of inhaled bronchodilator and biological treatment on airway function in patients with severe asthma.
Ashutosh Thakar
Ash's Master's degree integrated structural and functional lung imaging with clinical and molecular endpoints to better understand the heterogeneity of severe asthma and COPD.
Tanya Puri
Tanya's research used 129Xe MRI and oscillometry to better understand the scope of lung abnormalities in patients with bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) and other late-onset non-infectious pulmonary complications.
Karen Sidhom
Karen's undergraduate research focused on evaluating recovery from COVID-19 using oscillometry. After graduation, she enrolled in medical school at UWO.
Awards
We're incredibly proud of what students in the Svenningsen Lab have accomplished. Here are some of the recognitions that they've received.
Address
Contact
St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton
50 Charlton East
Hamilton, ON
L8N 1Y3
T3306
Our research group is a part of the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health (FIRH) and are is a member of the 129Xe MRI Clinical Trials Consortium.